Nova the Jungle Girl
by kuramasgurl018
Summary: What if Tarzan had been a girl instead of a boy?  Wait and see.  This is not my story by the way.  The person who wrote it is skorge so alll credit for this story goes to him.  He couldn't upload it so he asked me to.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Kala finds Nova

The gorilla named Kala walked slowly through the bushes along the edge of a huge cliff. She thought about how it had now been a whole year since her and Kerchak's little son had been killed by the leopard Sobra and still the emptiness in her remained.

She reached a large tree with something she`d never seen before, a tree house. Kala made her way up the trunk and walked inside were she found odd things covering the entire inside.

She suddenly heard a strange noise. It reminded her of the sound small newborn monkeys made. She walked over to a piece of wood with something very soft on it and inside laid a small creature that Kala had never seen before. It looked somewhat like a baby gorilla but with no hair. The baby stopped crying when she saw Kala and instead began to giggle happily and reached for her. Kala hesitated a bit but then picked the baby up. The baby immediately curled up in a small ball and fell asleep in Kala's hands. Kala almost feel in tears right then. When she felt the warmth of the small thing in her arms the hole in her seemed to shrink a bit and she considered taking the baby with her. She couldn't just leave it here to die and she longed to feel another baby close to her. Her only worry was her mate Kerchak who had been deeply depressed sins their son had died and might not accept this strange creature in his stead.

Kala made her choice; she would take the baby with her anyway. She made her way back to the others and on the way she took a closer look at the baby. She had soft, blonde hair and strikingly beautiful green eyes. Her nose was small but cute and she well-formed cheekbones.

When Kala arrived her family of about 20 gorillas plus children gathered around her and started asking were she`d been and why she had just wandered of like that. She didn't respond but simply showed them the baby in her hands. They all looked speechless but a few of the younger ones, including a small female by the name of Tera waddled up to it and sniffed at it curiously. Tera looked up at Kala and said

"Are you going to keep it?" she asked

Kala smiled "Yes" she answered.

"What are you gonna call her?" Tera wondered.

Kala thought about it for a moment and then said

"Nova, I`m going to call her Nova" she said with obvious love in her tone.

Right then Kerchak came through the bushes and walked up to his mate. When he saw Nova however, he stopped a meter away. He glared at her for a moment ant hen turned to Kala.

"What's this?" he said sharply. Anyone else in the family of apes would start to stutter at the harsh tone but not Kala. She held Nova out towards Kerchak and she immediately woke up from the lack of heat.

"This is your new daughter" Kala said calmly. Nova looked from Kala to Kerchak and a tiny smile appeared on her equally tiny lips. Kerchak was unmoved by the baby and looked back his mate.

"Were did you find it" he said, as if Nova was just a unusually shaped rock Kala had brought home.

"In a tree" Kala said" inside what looked like a wooden cave on the top."

That answer hardly satisfied him" Take it back and leave it were you found it" He said flatly. That made Kala angry. She knew that it was his task as group leader to ensure the family's safety and he would do anything to protect it. Normally she admired that in him but she wouldn't abandon Nova to either die from hunger or be eaten by predators.

She glared at him and said"No, I won't leave her to die and you should al least try to accept her as your own."

"Look at her" Kerchak growled. "she's not one of us and you shouldn't try to find a replacement for Aloha"

The mention of their son made Kala twitch and she saw the pain in his eyes as well. Kala was about to avert her eyes but collected herself. She hadn't saved Nova just to fill the black space in her heart were Aloha had been, she`d done it to save her and she would not give Kerchak authority by looking at Nova, she would not insult Nova by looking down at her. Instead she glared back and said firmly

"Nova is not a replacement, she´s a second chance both for her and me…"she paused" and could be for you too" her voice almost pleading.

Kerchak was silent as his gaze wandered between Kala and Nova in her arms. He finally sighed and said

"Keep her then, raise her as your own and she will be part of our family but make sure she doesn't endanger the rest of us"and with that he left and the other slowly did the same. Kerchak couldn't admit it but he had always loved Kala stubbornness, that spark of defiance in her eyes, not anger just defiance.

Kala sighed heavily and made her way to the tree she`d chosen to sleep in. she climbed up, still holding Nova in one and then laid her down on the pile of leaves she`d collected. Nova shuddered in the cold wind and Kala tucked her in under her big arm for warmth. It wasn't long until the baby was asleep and Kala soon followed.

A new life awaited both for Kala, the family and little Nova.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Nova

_6 years after Kala found Nova _

Kala slowly woke up, yawned and turned to were Nova used to sleep. When she saw that the girl wasn't there she sprung to her feet and, while moving the leaves around in panic, called.

"Nova, Nova" she was always worried when her daughter was out of sight. What Kala didn't notice was that the bush behind her shivered as a small creature snuck up behind her, snickering quietly to herself. Nova took a deep breath and made a nearly identical elephant sound which made Kala jump and turn around sharply. When the gorilla saw the laughing child she frowned a little but it soon gave way for a smile as the watched the girl up and down.

Nova was now 7 years old. Her blond hair reached her shoulders and the deep green eyes still maintained their intensity. The skin was tanned and she wore nothing but two pieces of loincloth, one over her waist and one over her chest.

"Can`t you imitate a quieter animal Nova" Kala asked. Nova sat down on the ground with arms crossed but still smiling.

"Aww mom, their no fun" she said and sprung up on all fours with a grin as vicious as a 7 year old can manage.

"Do you wanna see me be a leopard" she said and began to pounce on the leave piles all around her while she roared loudly. Tera and a few of the other children emerged from the bushes to watch the commotion. Kala just looked at Nova and, while she began to reassemble the piles, said

"Why don't you make up your own sound?" Nova thought about it and started to move around, making all kinds of noises. She growled like a panther, sang like a bird and hissed like a snake. She even grunted like a rhino.

Suddenly she seemed to get an idea and rise to her full height, took a deep breath, thrust out her tiny chest and yelled

"Aaa-aaa-aaah" she called out with all the air in her, making the small birds in the tree fly away. She turned to the others with a proud smirk on her face. "That is my new sound" the grin told them. The other young apes looked at each other and, laughing, jumped around and tried to make the same sound as Nova. The girl soon joined them and together they all ran around in circles and made their own noises.

Nova became a little dizzy after a while and stumbled away only to crash into a huge, hairy ar. She trailed the length of the limb, already knowing what she would see. Kerchak looked down on her, his face firm and unmoving. Nova began to stutter as she tried to talk.

"O…oh…h…hi Kerchak" she said weakly and waved a small hand at him. He only grunted in response. Tera ran over and quickly hugged her friend tightly while she looked nervously at the Alfa male.

"Hello there Kurchak" Tera said, trying to sound confident "busy day huh?" he turned to look at her instead

"Yes, it is" he said slowly. Tera gulped and continued.

"Well, then we`ll just get ourselves out of your way" she grabbed Nova by the arm and pulled her away from Kerchak. The male starred after them but soon continued on his morning watch. Tera sat Nova against a tree and said

"What have told you? If you want Kerchak to like you, stay away from him" Nova just glanced after him as he walked. She did want his approval, she wanted him to accept her as a member of the family and not just because of his relationship to Kala, but because that she truly belonged with them.

That didn't seem to be happening anytime soon however. The pair walked back to the others and two of them said

"Hey Tera, are you coming or what?" said the first.

"We're heading to the waterfalls now" the second chimed in. Tera nodded and said

"Sure, let's get going" the three apes began to move but Nova called after them.

"Can I come too?" she asked. Tera turned to face her while the others just ran off. Tera looked a bit uncomfortable.

"Yeeeah, you could come but I don't think you can keep up with the rest of us, sorry" she said and followed her friends. Nova just stood there but decided to tag along anyway. She ran after the trio without them seeing her.

When Tera and her friends reached the river they climbed up a nearby tree and saw that the water was full of elephants. One of the apes groaned.

"Aww, the elephants are here already. There's no room for us to play down there. "the other one turned to Tera .

"Why did it take so long for you to come after us anyway?"

"I just had to get rid…"Tera stumbled to the ground when Nova came crashing through the bushes behind her and bumped into the surprised gorilla"…Nova" she finished with a pained groan. Nova got to her feet and helped Tera up as well.

"Yep, it's me alright" she said "I decided to come along with you, to see what you guys do here" she panted from her fast run to keep up with them but she still smiled widely.

"We can't do anything now because the elephants have already taken all the lake for themselves" one of the gorillas said and pointed. Nova looked down, thought for a moment and then looked back up at the three apes with a mischievous grin.

"How about this, if I scare of the elephants you guys let me hang out with you?" they glanced at one another and then Tera said with a smile.

"Sure"

With that Nova took a couple of steps back, took a deep breath and ran forward. Before any of her new friends could stop her she jumped of the tree and dashed towards the water. Her dive failed however and she landed stomach- first on the surface. The three gorillas all made empathy groans of pain.

Nova was under water and was slowly sinking until she settled on what she believed to be a rock but turned out to be a hippo that was now looking strangely at the girl sitting on his head. Nova just smiled at it and swam to the surface. She poked up her head and watched the elephants. One of them, a young male hadn't even gone in get. Now she had to figure out how to scare them out of the water. The young male called out to a larger female and said

"Are you sure there aren't any piranhas in here?" he asked and touched the water with his trunk. The female sighed and said

"Yes Tantor, there are no dangerous fish in here, now come on" Tantor still seemed hesitant however. Nova smirked; she had just gotten an idea. If she could trick the elephants into thinking there were piranhas here they would leave quicker than a baboon chasing a lizard.

She swam up behind the closets elephant and prepared to jump when he spoke

"Listen to your mother Tantor, there are no Piranhas here" and with that Nova lunched herself from the water and, keeping her arms to her sides, bit the elephants tail. The big creature panicked in an instant.

"PIRANHA" he screamed and began to run. Nova let go and fell back into the water.

Tera and her friend quickly got down from the tree and waited for Nova to return when suddenly saw a herd of elephants charge towards them

"Run for your lives" Tera yelled and the all did. They threw themselves into the nearby bushes and waited for the herd to pass. When they had the gorillas made their way to the lake.

"NOVA, NOVA" Tera and the other called out. At first nothing happened but then a small shape burst forth from the water, gasping for air. Nova began to swim to the others when she saw that Tantor still stood in the water and watched her from a distance. Nova waved for him to follow her and he did after only a moment's hesitation. When the two reached the shore Tantor asked

"Who are you, some kind of strange piranha I've never seen before?" his voice held both sarcasm and a bit of genuine concern. Nova laughed and shook her head

"No, I'm Nova and your Tantor right" he nodded. She continued

"You know, I don't have that many friends. Would you like to be my friend?" she said with an expectant look and no hint of mockery. Tantor nodded again

"Of course, you seem like a fun girl" Nova laughed again

"And you seem like a fun boy. I'm sure we will have many great adventures together" she said with a smile and a wink.

Then Tera and the others came running up to them.

"That was awesome." Tera said and ruffled Novas hair. She punched her arm lightly. The other two also congratulated Nova while she blushed a little. If she`d know that all she needed to do to get accepted by the other kids was to bite and elephant in the butt, she would have done it a long time ago.

That was when Kerchak and the other adults arrived. He strode up to the children and shoved everyone but Nova gently aside while he glared at her.

"Are you responsible for this?" he said and indicated the trashed jungle behind him. Nova took a step back and said

"We… we were just having some fun Kerchak"

"Fun, FUN" he yelled" someone could have been hurt"

Kala ran up to them and stood beside Nova. Nova moved closer to Kerchak and reached out to touch his hand

"I'm sorry Kerchak" he pulled his hand away and Kala said

"She is just a child Kerchak" he turned to her

"That is no excuse, you can't keep defending her Kala, and someone could have been killed"

"She will learn" Kala insisted

"She will never learn to be one of us"

"Because you don't give her a chance"

"Look at her Kala; she will never be one of us"

There was a long pause and suddenly Nova turned and ran

"NOVA" Kala called after her but she didn't slow down.

That night, Nova returned to the lake and sat in the shallow water just at the edge of the shore and looked at her reflection. Kerchak was right, she looked nothing like the others and she splashed the water, then again and again until some mud hit her face. She angrily wiped it away and began to sob quietly to herself. Nova heard someone behind her and turned. It was Kala.

Nova wiped her tears and smiled a little. Kala approached

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"This is where I belong, all by myself." Nova answered

"Because of what Kerchak said? Don't listen to him" Kala said as she walked up to Nova and held her close.

"But he's right. I don't look like any of the other kids, I have no fur or sharp teeth" Nova said on the verge of tears.

Kala turned Nova around and looked her in the eyes. She held up a hand and said

"What is this? She asked. Nova was confused.

"Your hand"

"And how many fingers are there on it?"

"Five" Nova answered.

"And how many do you have?

"Five"

"Exactly" Kala said with a smile. She continued

"Now look at how many toes, eyes, ears, legs and arms I have. Then count your own. Nova did as she was asked and slowly shone up a bit.

"Just as many" she announced. Kala smiled lovingly and hugged Nova close to her chest.

"What do you hear?" she asked

"Your heart" Nova said.

"Yes, and it is just like yours" Kala finished and observed her daughter.

"We are not as different as you think. Nova smiled widely and hugged her mother tight, her spirit renewed.

"I promise" she said" that I will prove myself to Kerchak one day, I will be the best family member he has ever had"

Kala still smiled

"Good, now get some sleep"

_Next day_

The gorillas were on the move. Nova saw Kerchak climb up a tree and tried to follow but halfway up she began to slide. She was sure she was going to fall but felt a hand grab her wrist. She looked up and saw Tera smile down at her and she grinned back up.

…

Nova climbed up a vine and was almost at the top when it broke and she landed in a pile of fruit gathered by three of the adults.

They glared at her and she smiled nervously.

…..

Hippos swam through the water with Nova in their midst, yawning and wiping her ears like they did.

…..

A rhino scratched the trunk of a tree with its horn and then Nova did the same with a sharp rock.

…..

Tera stood in front of Nova and growled. Nova thrust out her chest and growled even louder. The two then began to wrestle and Tera won.

…..

A group of small monkey sitting on a branch saw Nova approach and began swinging the vines all around them. She followed and was soon ahead of them. She then grabbed the body of a snake and fell into the lake bellow.

Several alligators moved towards her in the shallow water but she jumped, dived and dodged every one.

…..

Nova sat in a three and made a spear out of a sharp rock and a long stick.

She noticed some fruit and threw the spear. It caught three of them and then stuck to a tree truck, right above Kerchak's head. He glared at her as she slowly backed away.

…

Nova and two other apes sat in a tree and watched a small rhino down below. They looked at each other and smiled. They jumped on its back and Nova swung a vine around its strong neck. They all laughed out loud as the rhino ran around in circles.

….

Nova was now 12 years old, well-muscled and tall. She and Tera dived into the water and Nova had to drag Tera to the surface so she wouldn't drown. The two friends laughed.

….

It was a rainy night and Nova was wet and cold. She saw Tera and the other kids wave her over. She smiled her thanks and shook the water of off her before she curled up beside them.

…..

A 15 year old Nova, with half developed hips and breasts, dodged the attacks from a big snake as it chased her through some tight branches but the playful grin never disappeared from her lips as she suddenly stopped and turned to face the snake who stopped just before reaching her, its body all tangled up in the trees. Nova just winked at it when it glared angrily at her and she then calmly walked away.

…

Nova and her friend sat around a big nest of termites and greedily slurped them down into their bellies. Tantor stood behind them and ate his own collection of peanuts.

When they were done Nova stood up, put one fist to her chest and burped loudly and then smiled at the others, proud.

….

Kerchak saw a now 18 year old Nova swinging from one vine to the next overhead. Nova landed on a long branch and started tree-surfing while laughing. She then jumped from the tree to a new vine and then back to another tree where she stopped and looked down at them.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Sabor Returns

Nova sat among the other gorillas and ate some grapes when suddenly Tera sprung from the bushes and tackled her to the ground.

"Looks like I win again No….."Nova pushed of the ground with her arms and legs which sent Tera tumbling to the ground. Nova got to her feet and crouched down in a fighting stance. She grinned, showing her teeth. She was much stronger now than when they were kids and she had even won a few wrestling matched against her friends but never against Tera, yet.

"It won't be that easy Tera" she snickered. Her friend got back to her feet and the watched each other for a moment before Tera lunged forward. Nova met her half-way hand the grasped each other's hands as the both strained for control. They stood like that for five seconds before Tera started to crumble. That made Nova smirk teasingly and that mad Tera push even harder. This was what Nova had hoped and she nimbly sidestepped and let Tera's forward-momentum carry her straight into the ground. Quick as a snake Nova straddled her back and slipped her arms under Tera's and behind her neck, pinning her to the ground. Tera struggled but Nova held on tight.

"Do you give up?" Nova said and waited for a response. Tera made one last attempt to free herself but then groaned and said

"Yes, you win, I give" Nova let go of Tera, stood up and placed on foot on her back. She then placed her fists on her hips and smiled proudly to the cheers of the others. Nova then helped Tera back to her feet when she saw Kala talking to Kerchak.

Nova never stuck around when the two talked and didn't know what they were talking about. Her eyes were drawn to a movement in the bush behind them. it was so fast she had nearly missed it.

She slowly walked in that direction when a leopard sprung out of hiding and charged at Kurchak. Nova was about to shout a warning but it was too late. The leopard jumped on his back and scratched him bloody. He roared and threw it of him while the others, Nova included climbed up the trees around them.

Kala came up to Nova and said

"That's Sabor, one of the most vicious Leopards alive. Stay up here no matter, you understand?" she told Nova who slowly nodded. They watched as Kerchak and Sabor fought. Sabor tackled the ape and pinned him to the ground but he threw her off. She charged him again but he struck her mid-leap with his massive arm. Next time he wasn't fast enough and Sabor scratched him over the chest. He fell to the ground with blood coming from his back and chest as Sabor circled him. When she was behind him she jumped at him again and sunk her teeth deep into his shoulder. He roared and punched her off him but he was too weak to do anything else.

Nova couldn't watch this. She clenched her spear and grabbed a vine. Just when Sabor was about to leap again she swung herself from the tree and kicked the leopard in the side. Nova let go of the vine and landed in front of Kerchak. Sabor got back to her feet and glared at Nova who glared back.

Those stares said everything; they would fight to the end. Sabor's eyes was filled with hunger and menace as she stared at her new prey and Nova`s eyes were filled with pure feral fury towards the one who had dared to attach her family.

Sabor jumped and Nova held up her spear to defend herself. They both crashed to the ground with Nova holding Sabor away with her weapon. Sabor tried to slash at Nova with her claws but couldn't reach. With amighty heave Nova lifted the leopard of off her and got to her feet. Now it was her turn. Nova ran at Sabor and thrust her spear forward. Sabor barely avoided the sharp stone and was slashed over the front leg were blood started to emerge.

Sabor looked from the wound up at Nova and hissed. The girl only glared back and showed her own teeth with an angry growl that would have made a jackal or an angry warthog back down with its tail between its legs.

Sabor attacked again and got her jaws around the spears shaft. It snapped of and the rock flew to the ground. That only made Nova angrier and she threw the stick to the ground and began to pound her fists on her chest challengingly while roaring loudly like she'd seen Kerchak and the other gorillas do when they showed aggression and dominance. Sabor slashed at Nova´s chest but she jumped back.

Nova then had an idea and stood her ground. Sabor leapt at her but Nova side-stepped and let Sabor fall were she had stood a second ago. She then threw herself on the leopards back. She wrapped her legs around Sabor's waist and held her front legs against her body in a tight hug. Sabor tried to wrangle herself free but years of living in the jungle had given Nova the muscle strength of an adult gorilla, despite her smaller frame.

When Nova spotted Kerchak a few meters away the rage heightened even further and when she saw the nasty mark left by Sabor's teeth in his shoulder she decided to repay her for that. She opened her mouth wide and bit down hard on the leopard's thick neck muscle while growling. Nova felt a pang of satisfaction as Sabor yelped in sudden pain.

Sabor made a last effort to get free and one of her front legs got out of Nova`s embrace. She tried to scratch at Nova`s leg but she let go and rolled away.

Now they were both back on their feet, panting heavily from the fight. Nova was exhausted but the sudden cheer from the gorillas made her look at them, smile and gain new energy. Nova turned towards the staring leopard and once again pounded her chest in challenge.

Sabor still had one more jump in her it seemed and she leapt into the air, Nova rolled out of the way and picked up the sharp rock in the process. She charged at Sabor, the rock in one hand and slammed it into the leopard's neck. A crack was heard and Sabor slumped to the ground.

Everything was silent. The gorillas, Nova, the entire jungle was quiet.

Then cheers erupted from the trees as the gorillas realized that Nova was not only alive but had defeated their worst enemy. Nova looked at her family and then at Sabor. Driven on by the roaring apes she grabbed the body and with a heave lifted it over her head in triumph. With a wild look on her face she took a deep breath and let out her trademark victory yell

"AAA...AAA...AAAH" the sound echoed through the trees.

The gorillas climbed down from the trees and surrounded Nova as she lay the body over her shoulder

"Move aside, hey watch it, best friends coming through" Tera and Tantor came through the mass of apes and Tera gave her a friendly punch in the arm

"I don't think I'll be challenging you to a wrestling match for a while" she said with a half nervous half joking look.

"Aww, but their so much fun" Nova laughed. Tantor shook his head.

"There are safer ways to get attention you know" he said with a worried face.

"I`ll try to remember that" she said with a grin but she was thankful for his concern. Those two were true friends. Nova looked for Kerchak and saw that he sat against a tree breathing heavily. It looked like he would survive and Nova let out a sigh of relief she realized she`d been holding sins he`d been hurt.

She walked over to him slowly and put down the body at his feet. She then backed away a step and watched him. He looked at the body and then at Nova but now it wasn't a glare, just a tired and perhaps a little respectful look. Perhaps he would finally accept her as his daughter. She smiled.

Then a loud bang echoed through the jungle and they all looked around. Kerchak got to his feet and said

"We`re moving" and they all did, all except Nova.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Meet the humans

Nova swung through the trees on one vine after the other, moving in the direction of the loud bang. She slid down the trunk of one tree and landed in the bush. She saw a small gold, shining object and picked it up. She looked at it closely and then sniffed it a couple of times, it had an odd scent. Nova then licked the thing from one end to the other and immediately recoiled, having to stop herself from vomiting.

Nova saw a figure appear as it made its way through the high grass. She dropped the odd thing in her hand and climbed up a tree to hide. She poked out her head and watched the strange animal.

The man who had appeared was Clayton; he wore a yellow shirt and brown pants. His hair was combed back and in his hand he held his shotgun. He spotted a bird and took aim. The shot echoed and Nova covered her ears. Another man came next. He was much smaller and older than Clayton. He wore a white shirt and brown pants. On his white-haired head he had an expedition helmet. His name was Archimedes Porter. He ran up to Clayton and said

"What was that Mr. Clayton? Did you see something?" Clayton glanced at him and said

"Be absolutely still Mr. Porter, there's something here" with that the older man froze dead in his tracks and glanced around. A new figure came out of the grass and made Nova gasp; it looked very much like herself. The woman had a white shirt and a yellow skirt. Her long brown hair reached to the middle of her back and her blue eyes sparkled with life and intelligence. She was the most beautiful creature that Nova had ever seen. The woman's name was Jane Porter. She saw her father standing in an awkward position and walked over to him.

"What are you doing?" she asked. Archimedes hushed her weakly and shook with the effort to stand still. Jane shook her head and walked past him. Something moved in the bushes beside her and she jumped while Clayton aimed his weapon. Out of the vegetation came a small monkey, a baby baboon.

Jane sighed in relief and pushed the gun away from the monkey. She smiled warmly as she walked up to it and kneelt down.

"Be careful" Clayton warned her. She ignored him and now sat a meter away from the baby baboon.

"Hi there" she said. The little creature went up to her and immediately took away the notebook she was about to pull out. She reached for it but he just scooted away from her.

"Hey, give that back" she said in a firm voice and snatched it back. It was in this book she had her many drawings of the animals and flowers she`d seen on her journeys. The baboon began to cry out loudly but Jane only acted as if she was talking to a baby human.

"Now, now what would your parents say of such behavior?" she heard her father gasp behind her and heard Claytons voice.

"Turn around slowly miss. Porter" she did and saw a whole flock of baboons sitting in the bush behind her and the baby ran up to the one standing in the front. It placed itself on the grown ones shoulder and began to yell and point at the notebook.

"RUN" she heard her father's voice and did just that. She didn't see in what direction but she couldn't see either her father or Clayton anywhere close. She just kept on running as she heard the horde chasing after her. She began to scream out loud for anyone to help her as the baboons covered the path behind her.

She felt her foot caught in something but just when she was about to fall to the ground and be overrun by the monkeys she felt a strong arm catch her and pull her up again. At first she thought it was Clayton but when she saw that she kept on raising through the air she looked up to see something she had never seen before.

It was a girl, or perhaps a woman, she looked to be about 20 years old like Jane herself. She wore no clothes, she noted, except a small loincloth on her hips and another covering her chest. Her blonde hair flew in the wind and her green eyes were strained straight ahead.

That was when Jane saw just ware she were, flying high in the air as the girl held a vine tight in her and as the baboon horde chased after them both.

Jane felt something tug at her foot and looked down. One of the smaller baboons clung to her ankle and tried to pull itself further up. She kicked it off with her other foot but the monkey pulled off one of her shoes as it went back down to the ground. Then Nova let go of the vine and began to tree surf instead while she held the screaming Jane in her arms. The baboon came at them from both ways and one jumped on Jane's back. It started to pull her hair violently until Nova pulled it off by the tail and sent it flying.

The baboons were almost on them now but suddenly Nova stopped mid slide and, while hugging Jane close, jumped of the thick branch. She caught a new vine and they were quickly putting distance between them and the Baboon who had stopped the chase.

When Nova finally but Jane down it was at the top of a tall tree and she placed herself beside her. Now she sat on her haunches and stared at the strange new creature. Jane in turn finally got a chance to take a good look at her rescuer.

The girl was very fit and slender. She was covered with strong muscles but that didn't hide her feminine curves at all. Her green eyes held something animalistic yet curious in them. Her face was just as strong as the rest of her but still cute in a way.

"_She's kind of pretty… no not that again. You promised father all that was behind you, no more incidents with other women, not of that sort." _she mentally berated herself as she remembered that night. She`d come home from a fancy dinner party with her father's colleagues and had confessed to some strange attraction she`d felt towards one of the other young women who had been there. This had troubled her father a little and she had promised both herself and her father that it was nothing but she knew it was.

Now it seemed such thoughts resurfaced because she couldn't stop herself from thinking about just how magnificent this jungle girl had looked when she had first found herself in her arms as they swung through the trees.

Jane dared a glance down but soon regretted it; she could hardly see the ground from up here. She saw that the girl was looking oddly at her. Jane almost lost her balance for a second but the girl moved closer, put her hands on Jane's and held her steady. Jane looked down and blushed a bit.

Nova removed her hand and resumed to just stare at the woman in front of her. She slowly leaned closer which seemed to scare the woman a little because she put one foot on Nova's stomach and pushed her back.

"No, stay back you, do you hear? Stay back" Nova just grabbed the foot and began to touch the toes. That made Jane laugh.

"Stop please, that tickles" she giggled. She laughed until she saw Nova start to lift her skirt to look underneath.

"Get off, get off….GET OFF" she kicked Nova right in the chin. She reeled back a step and then glared at Jane as she once again moved towards her. Jane nodded sharply for emphasis.

"Serves you right, now keep your distance like good wild girl. My father won´t take kindly to such behavior" Nova didn't understand anything the woman said. She just put her hand against Jane's cheek and the woman became angry.

"How dare…" she was about to slap Nova across the face but with the reflexes of a snake she caught the wrist before it hit and looked at the hand. It looked so much like her own. She remembered what Kala had once shown her and pressed Jane's hand flat against her own. The two women looked each other in the eyes and slowly Nova sank her head to Jane's chest and listened to her heartbeat. Then she straitened and gently pressed Jane's head against her own chest to listen to her heart.

"Thank you, that's a nice heartbeat, very nice" Jane said with a smile. Nova decided to try to talk to the woman and repeated clearly.

"Very nice"

"Thank you" Jane said and then realized what she`d said

"So you do talk, and here I thought you were just some wild, quiet person. Why didn't you tell me you could talk, I mean I must seem rather curios to you…"Nova put a hand to Jane's lips and then placed it on her own chest.

"Nova" she said as the patted herself.

Jane looked at her, confused. Nova moved a little closer and repeated slowly

"No-va"

"Nova" Jane said and Nova smiled, putting her hands in front of her, standing on all fours. Jane's only reply was

"Oh, good"

"Oh good" Nova replied. She pointed at herself and then at Jane.

"Nova, Oh good" Jane finally understood what was happening and tried to explain.

"No, no, no, no, I'm Jane" she said and pointed to herself.

"No, no, no, no, I'm Jane "Nova replied. Jane shook her head

"No, no…. Jane, Nova, Jane" she pointed between herself and Nova.

"Jane" Nova said slowly. Jane nodded with a smile.

"Exactly" she said when they head another gunshot.

"Clayton" Jane said. Nova grabbed a vine and searched the area

"Clayton" Nova said with a smile. Jane nodded

"Can you take me back to my camp?" she asked. Nova made a gunshot sound.

"Yes, Clayton, can you take me there" Nova nodded and moved closer to Jane, put her arm around her waist. Jane didn`t like were this were going and said

"Can`t we waaaaaaaalk" she screamed as Nova swung them both of the tree branch.

"We waaaaaaalk" Nova yelled, believing this to be Jane's personal yell, just like her own. She liked her own better though.

….

That afternoon, Tera and some of the other gorillas were currently out looking for Nova. She hoped that they would find her before Kerchak saw that they were gone.

"NOVA" one of them yelled.

"NOVA, NOVA! WARE ARE YOU? Let's hoped we find her before Kerchak does" another said.

"Maybe she`s lost" a third said.

"What, are you nuts? Nova doesn't get lost" Tera said in a confident voice.

When the four apes came out of the bush they froze and stared at what they saw. It was the camp of the newly arrived humans, full of equipment, tents and supplies.

"What's all this" one of them asked as they slowly made their way towards the camp.

"I have no idea" Tera said. She went to a table filled with test tubes and different fluids. She picked up one containing something blue.

"What kind of animal set all this up?" she said out loud. She tapped the glass. One of the others found a tip writher and pressed a finger on one of the buttons. He jumped back when the top moved but moved closer and started to tap again once he regained his nerve. The other apes spread out and touched many of the strange things lying around.

…..

By now Kerchak had noted the missing members and went in search for them with the rest following close by. He was moving straight towards the camp.

…

Dr. Porter and Clayton were on their way back as well, hoping that Jane had ran back to camp once they had scattered.

…..

Nova landed outside the camp and put Jane down. When Jane saw the gorillas in the camp she could only gasp in amazement.

"Gorillas" she said, smiling. Nova ran over to her friends on all fours. Tera and on other gorilla saw Nova and ran to meet her. They collided and began to wrestle while talking in ape language.

"She's one of them" Jane said to herself as she saw Nova grunt and smile to the other apes.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Nova learns about people

Jane could only stare at the gorillas as they looked at her, wide-eyed in surprise. Nova threw a glance at Jane and smiled. Two of the apes walked forward and Nova stood behind. The two grunted at Jane.

The other gorillas stepped forward as well and Nova smiled, thinking that everything was working out fine. She smiled vanished when she saw something behind Jane and stared in shock. Jane suddenly felt a hot breath blow all over her back and turned around. Kerchak glared angrily at her.

"Oh, my" she gasped and crouched down on terror as Kerchak roared and stood on to legs. Jane saw a silver spoon on the ground and picked it up. She held the little silver ware in front of her. Kerchak saw his own reflection in the spoon and sniffed it. Suddenly he pulled back and roared at Nova and the others.

Kala walked up to Kerchak and talked to him in ape. He responded and they soon moved into the jungle with the others in tow. Nova began to walk as well but looked back at Jane, feeling like she was leaving her. One of the others grabbed her wrist and pulled her with him. Soon they were gone and Jane was all alone.

She heard voices and saw her father emerge from the bushes and ran over to him.

"Ah, here you are, just as we had hoped." He said and hugged her close. He looked up into her eyes and said.

"What happened, Jane. You look all roughed up?" it was true, her clothes were ripped and her shoe was still missing.

"Well, you won't believe it but I'll tell you. After the baboon started chasing me I fell to the ground but was suddenly saved by a wild girl in a loincloth, swinging through the vines."

"A loincloth, oh dear." He seemed to think for a moment the said" It seems all this travelling has brought up some old thought in your head."

She rolled her eyes; she knew that he meant time when she had admitted to liking girls. She repressed her irritation though; she knew he didn't resent her for it. He was a scientist, this was just another fact of their lives and that's that.

She smiled, lucky to have him as her father, and said

"Perhaps, but it did happen"

Clayton spoke up.

"What is she talking about?" he asked.

"I haven't the foggiest idea. Sometimes, she`d come up with stories like that, not about girls in loincloths, but…" he trailed off.

"Oh and there were gorillas" Jane said happily. Clayton snapped to and walked up to her.

"Gorillas, you saw gorillas? Were, Jane, were?" he grabbed her shoulders.

"She left with them" Jane said.

"Who?" Clayton asked.

"Nova…" Jane smiled.

"Nova?" Clayton said.

"The gorilla girl…." she explained but they were still confused.

…..

That evening, the gorillas were standing together and talked about the newcomers. Kerchak eventually stepped up and said

"We will avoid these strangers, do not let them see you and do not seek them out." Nova spoke up.

"They mean us no harm, Kerchak" he looked at her with an expression she couldn't read.

"Nova, I don't know that"

"But I do, I spent time with them" she said with a calm tone. Kerchak glared at her.

"You may be willing to risk this family's safety, but I'm not" that made Nova angry. She ran up to him until she was only inches away from him, stared him in the eye and yelled at him.

"Why are you so threatened by anyone that's different than you?" they glared at each other, both knowing that she meant herself as much as anything else.

"Protect this family and stay away from them." he growled. She glared back and walked away. When she passed Kala, her mother said pleadingly

"For once, listen to Kerchak, Nova" her daughter turned to look at her with a pained expression. Kala almost took a step back at the look of betrayal in those eyes.

"Why didn't you tell me there were other creatures like me?" she stormed of, climbed a tree in the distance and sat on a branch, looking up at the stars. Kala sighed.

…

At camp everything was normal again, the equipment was back in place and Dr. Porter was checking his notes. Later the tree of them all gathered in the largest tent and Jane again tried to explain Nova to them.

"Well, she didn't stand upright. She's sort of crouched like this. And her knees were bent." Jane explained.

"Really" Dr. Porter said with real interests.

"Just like a gorilla" Jane grinned.

"Amazing" her father said.

"Oh it was amazing! Her arms are straight and still walks like a gorilla, like this" she tried to imitate the way Nova had walked.

"Oh I see" her father said and did the same as her. Clayton watched them from where he sat and rolled his eyes.

"This is capital! Wow, Jane, what a discovery! A girl with no language, no human behavior…" Jane cut him off.

"And no respect for personal boundaries" she said as she blushed a bit.

"What do you mean?" Archimedes asked.

"She was this close to me" she walked up close to her father" staring at me, as if she had never seen another human before." She looked down on the drawing she was doing of Nova and continued working on it as she spoke.

"Her eyes were intense and focused and… I've never seen such green eyes." She sighed. Her father looked from her to the drawing and back. He couldn't help but chuckle.

"Should we leave you and the paper alone for a moment?" Jane just rolled her eyes at him and smirked.

"Very funny, dad. The point is that is that we can learn much from her. We have to find her." Clayton turned to her and said

"We`re here to find gorillas, not indulge some girlish fantasy" he glared at Jane.

"Fantasy? I didn't imagine her. Nova is…" Nova jumped down through a hole in the tents sealing"… real" Jane finished with a smirk.

"Ah it's her, its Nova" Dr. Porter said with excitement which confused Nova. Clayton grabbed his shotgun.

"Dr. Porter, miss. Porter, stand back" he said while he aimed at Nova.

"No" Jane called out and pushed the gun away from the jungle girl. He glared at her in anger.

"Clayton" Nova mumbled Dr. Porter gaped at her and Nova said it again, a little louder and clearer" Clayton" Archimedes was amazed. Clayton looked confused.

"Have we met?" he asked." How does she know my name?" Nova just looked at him. Jane answered

"She thinks "Clayton" means the sound of a gun" she said. Nova smiled at Jane and jumped over to her," Jane…"

"Yes, hello, um, Nova" she giggled. Dr. Porter chuckled.

"I see what you mean by boundaries" Nova looked back at Clayton.

"What is she doing?" he asked as the girl decided to imitate him. She stood straighter, stiffer and scowled, as if frustrated. She also held out her arms as if holding a shotgun.

"Look at her, Jane, she acts like a gorilla but looks like a human. She could be the missing link." Archimedes exclaimed. Clayton smiled and walked towards Nova.

"Or our link to the gorillas" he said, grinning. Archimedes kept smiling.

"Ah yes" he said.

"Where are the gorillas?" he asked. Nova didn't answer, she reached out to touch his stubby chin but he caught her wrist, "**gorillas!**" he repeated harshly.

"**Gorillas!"** Nova copied.

"Shouting won't help, Clayton, she doesn't understand you" Jane said. He smirked.

"Well then, I'll make her understand. If I can teach a parrot to sing, then I should also be able to teach this savage a thing or two." He began to draw a gorilla, while Nova watched. When he was finished he handed it to her and said "Gorilla." she took the picture and examined it.

"Gorilla" Dr. Porter shone up.

"She's got it!" he said. Nova picked up a pencil and scribbled all over the drawing.

"Gorilla, gorilla" she said.

"Perhaps not" Jane said with an amused smile as she watched the living wonder in front of her as she destroyed the image of the ape.

"No, no, no, no," Clayton grabbed the picture and snatched it away. He glared at Nova.

"No, no, no, no" she repeated and snatched it back.

"No, no, no" He said and once again took the picture away from Nova but she just kept taking it back again. That was when Jane swopped the paper away and told Clayton

"I`ll take it from here, I think" she brought out the projector and prepared some images to show Nova. When she looked at the girl she was on her way to touch the candle allowing the machine to show pictures. Jane quickly put on the protective theater on. Nova smiled up at her. Then the pictures began to show and Nova was spellbound by what she saw.

…

Nova walked up to the picture of a gorilla and touched the screen; she looked at Jane, who switched the image to a man in nice clean cloths. He stood with his back straight and hands clasped behind his back. Nova placed herself beside the screen and stood in the same way. The next picture showed the jungle and Nova reached for it until an image of space replaced it, which made Nova jump in shock.

The next image was of a woman in a fancy dress, a big, feathered hat and white silk cloves. Her nose was in the air and one hand was held out to a man to kiss. Nova immediately copied the woman, sticking her nose up and held out a hand to her father. Jane couldn't stop herself from giggling as she saw the rough and dirty jungle girl imitate the high-class lady. Jane thought that Nova was by far the more beautiful of the two. Her father took the hand and kissed it like the gentleman he was and Nova looked to the picture for more instruction and saw a woman standing behind the first and she copied her next, she looked at Dr. Porter, who had just kissed her hand, and smiled playfully while putting four fingers over her mouth, giggling.

Jane smiled, when a picture of a man and a woman dancing appeared. Nova took it all in and ran up to Jane. She pulled her out of her chair and the two began to dance while her father clapped. It was a slow dance and Jane savored the warm feeling of Nova pressing herself against her.

…..

That night Dr. Porter showed Nova the stars through his telescope and she saw a comet, which made stare in awe. The next day Nova and Jane sat and read a book. Jane told her about what was on all the pictures.

…..

Clayton showed Nova a map of Africa and a picture of a vicious gorilla. Nova glanced at Jane who was drawing something. Clayton glared at Nova and forced her to look at the map. At night, Nova was the only one awake, all the gorillas slept but she thought about Jane all night long, while looking at the night sky. That morning Nova went back to the camp and both Tera and Kala saw her go. She shook her head sadly, knowing where she was going.

…

At camp Nova walked behind Clayton, until she saw Jane sketching a Pidgeotto. Nova smiled and went to her. Jane noticed Nova and showed her the half-finished sketch. When Jane was about to resume her drawing the bird flew away, leaving a disappointed Jane behind.

…..

Nova climbed the vine, with Jane around her waist, and took her to the top of the tree. When they were there Jane beamed with wonder. The tree top was full of colorful birds, just waiting to be sketched. Some of the birds landed on Janes shoulders and she giggled. One landed on her head and as it peered down on her she nuzzled its beak.

Jane looked at the smiling Nova and hugged her close. Nova had seen her sad the other day and had done this to cheer her up. Then Nova made a perfect imitation of the bird's song and they flew off. Jane looked questionably at Nova who extended a hand to her. Jane took it and Nova placed a vine in it. Jane felt a pang of terror when she realized what was happening but Nova's reassuring smile calmed her. She held the vine tightly, as did Nova, and with a scream jumped off the tree. She flew through the air with Nova's strong body pressed against her own. The jungle girl looked down at the brown haired woman who blushed slightly and, miraculously, so did she.

…..

Back at camp, Clayton was talking to Dr. Porter and Jane while Nova played with a model of the solar system.

"We`ve wasted enough time" Clayton said, irritated," the boat will arrive any day now, ask her straight out" Jane sighed and walked over to Nova who looked at her with a tiny smile, she looked so innocent.

"Nova, will you take us to the gorillas? Do you understand?" she asked. Novas English had improved drastically sins their first meeting, further proof of her amazing ability to imitate and learn.

"I understand" she said" but I can`t"

"Why not, Nova?" Jane insisted.

"Kerchak" Nova stated. They looked upset. Perhaps on the verge of giving up.

…..

Clayton grabbed Nova's shoulder and showed her a picture of a gorilla. Nova only grinned and, putting her hands on his shoulders, jumped over him and ran off. He tore the picture in pieces in anger.

….

While all the others in the camp were asleep, Nova was up and looked through the pictures on the projector. She stopped at a picture of a man giving flowers to a woman. Her eyes glided to Jane. She had been quieter recently and Nova decided to cheer her up a bit.


End file.
